System and method for aggregation, analysis, presentation and monetization of pricing data for vehicles and other commodities

Abstract

Embodiments of systems and methods for the aggregation, analysis, display and monetization of pricing data for commodities in general, and which may be particularly useful applied to vehicles are disclosed. Specifically, in certain embodiments, historical transaction data associated with a particular vehicle configuration may be obtained and processed to determine pricing data associated with the vehicle configuration. The historical transaction data or determined pricing data may then be presented in an intuitive manner.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A system, comprising:
 a vehicle data system coupled to one or more computing devices over a network, the vehicle data system comprising:
 a data gathering module configured to operate in a back-end process to:
 retrieve historical transaction data obtained from a set of data sources coupled to the vehicle data system over the network, wherein the historical transaction data is collected simultaneously from each of the set of data sources and comprises data on vehicle transactions; 
 
 a processing module to:
 determine a plurality of sets of historical transaction data, where each of the plurality of sets of historical transaction data is associated with a vehicle configuration, and 
 determine pricing data corresponding to a specified vehicle configuration by applying one or more models to the set of historical transaction data associated with the specified vehicle configuration, wherein the pricing data includes a set of transaction price based data and one or more quantifiable prices determined based on the set of historical transaction data associated with the specified vehicle configuration; and 
 
 an interface module to:
 receive the specified vehicle configuration from a user at a computing device in a request received over one of a plurality of channels, and 
 respond to the request in real-time by generating an interface based on the pricing data determined by the data gathering module in the back-end process, wherein the interface presents the one or more quantifiable prices in association with the transaction price based data through one or more of the plurality of channels. 
 
 
 
     
     
       2. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more quantifiable prices are price points or price ranges. 
     
     
       3. The system of  claim 2 , wherein the price ranges include a first price range and a second price range, the first price range being less than the second price range. 
     
     
       4. The system of  claim 3 , wherein the interface presents the first price range relative to the second price range and both the first price range and the second price range relative to the transaction price based data. 
     
     
       5. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the historical transaction data includes data obtained from an inventory company, a manufacturer, a financial institution, a department of motor vehicles, a dealer or a sales data company. 
     
     
       6. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the transaction price based data is presented as a price curve, bar chart or histogram. 
     
     
       7. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the processing module determines one or more reference pricing data points, wherein the reference pricing data points are presented relative to the transaction price based data and the one or more quantifiable price ranges. 
     
     
       8. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more models include a dealer cost model or a price ratio model. 
     
     
       9. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the dealer cost model is one of a set of dealer cost models, each dealer cost model associated with a manufacturer. 
     
     
       10. The system of  claim 1 , wherein the dealer cost model is determined by determining an equation for deriving a holdback associated with a dealer cost relationship. 
     
     
       11. The system of  claim 10 , wherein the equation is determined by selecting the equation from a set of equations, each equation of the set of equations associated with a vehicle invoice price for the manufacturer and wherein the selected equation is most consistent of the set of equations across all vehicle invoice prices. 
     
     
       12. The system of  claim 11 , wherein the price ratio model is of the form f(x)=Σ i=0   n Σ k=0   m (β i X i X bk ) where X i  signifies global variables, X bk  signifies bin-level variables for a specific bin b of historical transaction data, and β i 's are coefficients. 
     
     
       13. The system of  claim 1 , where the processing module further determines an upfront price for the specified vehicle configuration and the interface presents the upfront price in the interface in association with the one or more quantifiable prices and the transaction price based data. 
     
     
       14. A method, comprising:
 in a back-end process on a vehicle data system: 
 retrieving historical transaction data obtained from a set of data sources coupled to the vehicle data system over a network, wherein the historical transaction data is collected simultaneously from each of the set of data sources and comprises data on vehicle transactions; 
 determining, at the vehicle data system, a plurality of sets of historical transaction data, where each of the plurality of sets of historical transaction data is associated with a vehicle configuration; 
 receiving, at the vehicle data system, a specified vehicle configuration from a user at a computing device coupled to the vehicle data system in a request received over one of a plurality of channels; 
 determining, at the vehicle data system, pricing data corresponding to the specified vehicle configuration by applying one or more models to the set of historical transaction data associated with the specified vehicle configuration, wherein the pricing data includes a set of transaction price based data and one or more quantifiable prices determined based on the set of historical transaction data associated with the specified vehicle; and 
 in a front end process: 
 respond to the request in real-time by generating, at the vehicle data system, an interface based on the pricing data determined in the back-end process, wherein the interface presents the one or more quantifiable prices in association with the transaction price based data through one or more of the plurality of channels. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more quantifiable prices are price points or price ranges. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 15 , wherein the price ranges include a first price range and a second price range, the first price range being less than the second price range. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 16 , wherein the interface presents the first price range relative to the second price range and both the first price range and the second price range relative to the transaction price based data. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the historical transaction data includes data obtained from an inventory company, a manufacturer, a financial institution, a department of motor vehicles, a dealer or a sales data company. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the transaction price based data is presented as a price curve, bar chart or histogram. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the processing module determines one or more reference pricing data points, wherein the reference pricing data points are presented relative to the transaction price based data and the one or more quantifiable price ranges. 
     
     
       21. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the one or more models include a dealer cost model or a price ratio model. 
     
     
       22. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the dealer cost model is one of a set of dealer cost models, each dealer cost model associated with a manufacturer. 
     
     
       23. The method of  claim 14 , wherein the dealer cost model is determined by determining an equation for deriving a holdback associated with a dealer cost relationship. 
     
     
       24. The method of  claim 23 , wherein the equation is determined by selecting the equation from a set of equations, each equation of the set of equations associated with a vehicle invoice price for the manufacturer and wherein the selected equation is most consistent of the set of equations across all vehicle invoice prices. 
     
     
       25. The method of  claim 24 , wherein the price ratio model is of the form f(x)=Σ i=0   n Σ k=0   m (β i X i X bk ) where X i  signifies global variables, X bk  signifies bin-level variables for a specific bin b of historical transaction data, and β i 's are coefficients. 
     
     
       26. The method of  claim 14 , where the processing module further determines an upfront price for the specified vehicle configuration and the interface presents the upfront price in the interface in association with the one or more quantifiable prices and the transaction price based data.